The Light of Darkness
by Kintaraheart
Summary: When three High elves are captured and find themselves in Scourge prisons, they are certain their deaths are near. And they are. But to their surprise, there's more in store for them than torture, death, and undeath.
1. Chapter 1

Ledien felt the chains around him tighten and screamed. Four days straight of unrelenting torture with only a few hours of rest given to him just so they could keep him alive. But what purpose could he possibly serve to them? He was just an Elvin soldier who'd been captured after his comrades were killed. He had no special information, no knowledge of attack plans, or defensive plans, nothing that could possibly be of use to them. Yet for some unknown reason they kept him here in this prison, wrapped in bloody chains that they tightened every so often throughout the day. And even more puzzling to him was how he could possibly still be alive. First, his entire unit guards had been completely ripped apart accept for Ledien and three others, then he'd been beaten repeatedly and wrapped in chains, given dirty, probably plague infected water to drink and no food, visited and toyed with by a mysterious woman who was presumably the leader of these particular mindless horrors, and now he sat in the dark listening to the screams of other prisoners.

Ledien hadn't the slightest idea where they'd dragged him and the others off to. He'd been knocked out and awakened while he was being dragged to his cell in the prison. On his way to the cell he'd seen many other elves, some in much worse shape than others. In the next cell over there was a young woman who he recognized as a ranger who was serving Sylvanas Windrunner, the Ranger General in Silvermoon. And her being in here was not a good sign at all, if she was here there was no doubt horrifying carnage in their homeland. Because that meant that even the rangers had failed.

His thoughts flew to his family in Silvermoon. He'd grown up in a relatively large family for elves, with two sisters and a brother for siblings. His parents had certainly had their hands full with the four of them. Faelin and Tyraena, his younger sisters, were twins. And as sweet and kind as they both were, they acted like feral cats if you made them angry. Setirion was Ledien's older brother. And he was about as kind as an angry mother lynx around her cubs and just as fierce. Ledien had been the odd child out of all of them, the wild one with a bad temper who never listened and always ended up under the scornful looks of elders. At least Setirion had behaved, despite being so mean, and the girls were both well behaved and such. Normally, he hardly worried for them, leaving all day and returning only for meals and sleep.

But now, with the possibility of losing them all, he felt desperately alarmed. The chains that bound him made him feel extremely claustrophobic. He felt his hands claw against the chains from the inside, though every movement sent pain shooting through him. Yet still he struggled, squirming like a fussy kitten being held against its will. He growled with anger, determined to do the impossible and break free.

A high pitch laugh broke his concentration. He looked to the door of the cell and frowned. There stood the woman who worked for the scourge. She was dressed differently today, in a long, light blue gown that fell to the floor. She stood out sorely in the darkness of the prison.

"Such determination," She sounded amused. "It's really a shame that I can't have you for a pet."

Ledien frowned even more. What did she mean by that? He didn't have time to wonder though, because she entered his cell and with a snap of her fingers, the chains fell away and he landed on top of them with a thud. He frowned at his lack of grace and tried to stand. He had to fight. He was not going to let his family suffer under the harsh cruelty of the scourge. But the woman placed a hand on his shoulder and forced him back down.

"Why so hasty?" She whispered in his ear. "It's not like you have anywhere to be. How can you have to be somewhere when it's all gone anyways?" She laughed and Ledien's horror rose again, he panicked and tried to fight against her, but she was unnaturally strong. She continued to hold him down with one hand and used the other to grab his chin and force him to look at her.

"Your strength is quite admirable. You're even stronger than your leader. Oh yes, you're just perfect aren't you?" She smiled sinisterly down at him, her gaze filled with a devious fire. But Ledien was too shocked at her appearance to notice. She seemed completely alive, completely human. There was warmth in her hands and her eyes and skin still had life and color to them. She was still alive, yes, but how? How, if she served the scourge, was she still a living being? There had to be mind control, something unnatural, holding her against her will.

"I can't wait to see what the master has in store for you…" She grinned at him. "You're a perfect specimen." She put a long, thin finger to his forehead. "But first you must be prepared," She said and everything suddenly became very foggy. Ledien struggled against the dizziness that overtook him, but failed. Within only moments, his vision began to go, and his mind with it. "Yes, yes. So tired, you must sleep." He heard her coo. And against his will, he did exactly what he was told. It was something he would soon be used to doing…

He was in a new cell, a cleaner one, and he was not alone, there were two others with him. He recognized the girl from the cell that had been next to his before. She was sleeping on a stone table similar to the one Ledien was lying on, her long brown hair fanning out on the table. On his other side was another man, slightly older than Ledien with long red hair and tan skin. He was awake, like Ledien, but was lying still, observing the room through experienced, watchful eyes.

Ledien attempted to sit, only to find that his wrists and ankles were in shackles bound to the tables by heavy chains not unlike the ones that he had been bound in. He gave up and settled back against the table, the chains falling against it with a sharp clang. Ledien winced and looked to the only visible door. No one looked in on them. But someone else was watching him.

The red haired man was staring at him with his sharp gaze that reminded Ledien of a hawk. Ledien felt his cheeks go red for some reason, the man's gaze filling him with humility. He looked away from the man and lay silent. Ledien pretended to sleep and they were both silent for a very long time until finally the man spoke.

"I know you're awake." He said. "I'm not easily fooled by a child's version of acting." His tone was bitter but Ledien could hardly blame him. They were locked up in a scourge prison awaiting a no doubt grim fate.

"Fine, don't speak." He said. "It's your choice if you want to spend your last moments as a member of the living in silence, but personally, I'm tired of being silent and awaiting my death without so much as batting an eye."

"There's not much to be said." Ledien said blankly. He looked back over at the man. For the first time, he noticed the huge gaping rips in the man's chest and stomach. Crusted blood and milky green ooze coated the gashes. It had to be horribly painful. Yet somehow, there was a sarcastic smirk playing on the man's lips.

"I suppose that's true, isn't it?" The man replied, this time the harshness had been replaced by a strange tone of sad acceptance and suddenly Ledien felt as though he owed this man something.

"My name is Ledien Fireborn." He said quietly. The man's sarcastic smile changed into a sincere one.

"My name is Raethiel Dawningsky." Raethiel replied. "And where might you be from?" He asked.

"My family lives in Silvermoon." He said, feeling rather awkward. "Where are you from?"

Raethiel's smile faded. "My wife and I were living in Suncrown village. I'd left her there in the hands of my brother in hopes he could protect her enough. She's pregnant with our first child and is due any day now. But something tells me that she isn't there anymore. And I do not mean that she escaped." He swallowed. Ledien could see the biter sadness in his eyes mixed in with hatred. He had far more reason to worry than Ledien did. Ledien felt guilty for having ignored him earlier.

"I'm sorry…" He said, not knowing how to react to Raethiel's story. "My parents and siblings all live in Silvermoon just outside of Falconwing Square. But I'm not there for very much of the day, I spend most of it training. I'm in the guard." Raethiel raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What?" Ledien asked, feeling self conscious.

"It's nothing; you're just younger than I thought you were." He said. He was staring up at the ceiling in a dazed fashion. "What do you mean?" Ledien asked, puzzled.

"They didn't used to allow boys so young to join the ranks before. Don't take offense to this because I am not meaning in any way to offend you, but you must be stronger than you look to be in the ranks already. In the years I trained in the guard, they only selected the strongest few to be accepted into the ranks. I barely made it into the ranks myself." Raethiel sighed. "I was the commander's favorite trainee, and I assume that is the reason why I was chosen in the end. Though I was as good as I needed to be, there had been several others in our class who's skills surpassed mine greatly. I remember a boy not much older than I. He was the greatest swordsman I'd ever seen. His skill with a blade was so great he volunteered to do a demonstration on the first day and matched our instructor. But though his talents were great, his lack of respect landed him in the bottom and I suspect that was the reason he never made it. There's a difference between ambition and outright arrogance. And being the noble's son he was, he was much too arrogant even for our commander."

Raethiel shook his head as much as he could lying on a stone table and frowned. Ledien watched him with a newfound respect for the other elf. He was of the guard, just as Ledien was, and an older guard too. Ledien wondered what had gotten him into the prison in the first place. Expert guards usually had bigger orders than being pushed out to fight on the front lines in a war. Ledien thought back to what his father had told him about the old guard. How difficult the training was and how much time and work one put in just to make the cut. Ledien knew Raethiel wasn't even exaggerating and thinking about how much simpler it had been for him to join the ranks, he felt weak compared to the experienced soldier beside him.

"I know about the old guard." He said finally. "My father is a retired guardian. He helped the rangers for a while when the trolls were causing trouble in the east. He's been training me since I was just a child. His dream for me was to become as strong a guard as he had been. And it's been my dream as well. But sometimes I suspect that he's trying to relive his youth through me. Whether he means to or not. But the only reason I was ever accepted into the ranks was because of my father, though no one ever says it, I know it's the truth. The commander absolutely despises me because I'm younger than the others, but because my father trained me so well, I'm much more experienced than the rest of them."

"Ah," Raethiel said with a sly smile. "Your father's reputation and your father's dreams are the reason you're a guard. Though something hints that it wasn't always in your interests to follow the path your father was made for you." Ledien cringed inside, he'd been hoping that Raethiel wouldn't catch on, but he should have known better. "It's true," He admitted. "I'm not always happy with what fate has been chosen for me. I used to aim for higher things, like joining the Rangers and the Farstriders. But I get greater satisfaction from watching my father become so proud." He smiled. "Besides, I'm the only one of his children who has any chance when it comes to the guard."

They stayed silent for a while after that, listening to a faint dripping sound coming from somewhere in the room. Ledien was surprised no one had come to check on them with all the talking they'd done.

For a while, he watched the girl sleep, she had yet to awaken. Part of Ledien hoped she wouldn't, at least she'd have a chance of sleeping through this awfulness. His mind wandered again and he thought of the battle that had taken place before his capture. He and fifty of his comrades had been ordered to stake out the crossing at the Elrendar River. He remembered his commander and the leader of his unit arguing about needing more men. The commander had reassured him that there were reinforcements hiding up on the Falls and near the rune stones. But when they'd begun to fall, no reinforcements had come and with bitter realization, Ledien and the others discovered the awful truth that they were just decoys. They'd been the bait and the scourge had taken it.

Suddenly, Ledien heard voices. "Yes, the two males are awake, and quite talkative."One voice said. So they had been listening in on them. "But the young female remains asleep."

"I see. Well, she will awaken in time and then we can finally begin the transformation." Another voice said.

"My lord, I still think that it is a little haphazard to experiment on them first. The master wants a strong army, not one full of faulty experiments. And these ones were so hard to find. Even Dahlia wants to keep the young one."

Ledien froze. Dahlia. That must have been the woman who had taken him from his cell. He vaguely remembered her complaining about wanting to keep him as a "pet". He shuddered at the thought. To be a plaything for the scourge had to be the most horrifying fate imaginable.

"Do not doubt my decisions. I faithfully serve our master. He raised us from our graves and gave us a second chance to prove ourselves in the mortal world. And for as long as we are not slain, we are immortal. No ailments may claim us, our bodies do not age, though they are already rotting, and we are immune to time itself." The devotion was sickening. Ledien wanted more than anything to throttle the undead outside the door.

"Yes, my lord." The other voice said.

There was the brief sound of footsteps passing the door to the cell and then a strange gush of cold air. "It's only a matter of time." The voice of the one called "Lord" said from the door. And then with a quiet _whoosh_ the undead was gone.

"Only a matter of time." Raethiel quoted. His voice was laced with contempt. "And sadly, it's true."

Fear and curiosity mingled in the back of Ledien's mind as he lay there, staring at the mold coated, grey stone that made up the room. The prison looked old and overused. It most likely once belonged to humans, it was most definitely not of Elvin creation. Ledien thought about it for a moment and his stomach twisted in dread. This meant they were no longer in Quel'Thalas.

Raethiel struggled to control his breathing as the wounds in his chest throbbed horribly. He knew they were infected, and it wouldn't be long before the plague claimed him. The only things keeping his sanity in check were his wife, Leyranna, and the boy next to him. He pictured Leyranna's face in his mind, her long, pale-blond hair, her rosy cheeks, and her bright blue eyes that brought life to everything around her. Oh how Raethiel loved her. She'd been the one who truly saved him in his darker days when he was young. And how happy he had been the day that they had figured out she was pregnant. Raethiel never realized how much he wanted a family until now as he lay on the stone table that would serve as his death bed.

He thought about the scourge being's words. It truly was only a matter of time for him until he was gone. The thought of him becoming a mindless monster that attacked everything in his path was sickening. A thought flashed through his mind. What if he even attacked Leyranna? He swallowed down the lump in his throat. No, he would never allow that. Not ever. But what if things were beyond his control? He swore he could feel his face drain of color. The dread that had been building in the pit of stomach now rose threateningly. Even as an expert guard he could hardly contain his fear.

He glanced over at Ledien, determined to distract himself. "Ledien, what are you thinking about?" He said, sounding younger than he was. But Ledien didn't seem to notice. He simply looked over at Raethiel with a blank look on his face. "I'm wondering why we're here. Why us? Why me? I'm not important; the commander wouldn't have told anything of importance to save his life. We were all sent out as decoys to attract the scourge's attention so that the other units could come in and attack. And we didn't even realize it until it was too late. So why am I here? And I wasn't brought in alone. Why me? Why not someone useful?"

The younger elf sounded hopeless. And his expression matched his voice. But the young elf was indeed stronger than he looked. He had to be if he was on the guard at such a young age, and if he'd survived being put out onto the front lines. There was still resilience in him.

Raethiel thought about what Ledien had said and for the first time he too wondered why he'd been brought here. He was just a retired member of the Silvermoon City guard. And though at one time he might have held valuable information, those days had passed long ago and anything of worth then had without a doubt changed. It was one of the few similarities between himself and Ledien and as he thought it through he could come up with no reasons to why they were here. He briefly remembered what the undead had said outside the door about experimentations. Was this their only purpose? Hopeless experiments that were truly meant to fail, or was there something more?

There was suddenly shuffling coming from the other side of Ledien. It had to be the girl. She was finally waking up, and her consciousness would be the death of them all…eHe


	2. Chapter 2

Everything seemed to hurt as Kateri opened her eyes for the first time in hours, and even though the room around her was dark, her eyes still cringed away from the light outside the room's barred door. She pinned them shut again.

This was not the same place she'd fallen asleep in, someone had moved her, and it disturbed her greatly that she'd been so helpless. It was not normal for a Farstrider to be over powered, and even less normal for their will to be bent. That man, the one the other undead called "Lord", he had somehow overtaken her during his last visit to her cell.

Kateri had tried desperately to prevent it too, having watched the same thing happen to the young man in the cell over when that woman had been with him. But still the undead had been more powerful than she. This was quite a change for the ranger, and it was not something she would soon forget. _Don't let that happen to yourself again._ She scolded herself for being so weak.

Oh how her head pounded, and her ears seemed to be rejecting the slightest noise. But someone was talking, Kateri could hear that much, but the sound was muffled and she couldn't understand the words being said. "I can't…" She tried to speak but found it difficult to do even that. She forced her eyes open again, trying to blink away the brightness. After a moment she made out the form of another elf. It was the boy from the cell next to hers, the one who'd been carried away. Her eyes adapted more and she was he was chained to a stone table. She tried to lift her arms and found they wouldn't go more than five inches up. She was on a stone table too, and her ankles were bound as well.

She looked at the boy again, there was someone on the other side of him, but she couldn't quite see him clearly yet, though it appeared he was chained as well. There was no one on the other side of him, or on the other side of herself. They must be the only ones.

Finally her ears settled enough to hear the person speaking, it was the boy. She turned to face him again, noticing the dark bruises on his pale body. "Miss…" He was saying. "Can you hear me?" Kateri nodded, still unable to speak well. "Yes." She choked out.

The boy put a finger to his lips. "Shh…" He said. "If they know you're awake, they'll come for us." He whispered. "You're the only one they're waiting for." Kateri gasped. She suddenly remembered what she wanted very badly to forget; the reason they were here. "No…" She whispered, horrified. Immediately she felt pity for the boy and the man next to him. "What difference does it make?" She said loudly.

The boy eyed her, confused. "What do you mean?" He asked. Kateri laughed bitterly. "I guess the news hasn't reached you then…" She said.

The boy and the man both looked at her in confusion. "What news?" The older one demanded.

Kateri felt a lump rise in her throat as she remembered the battle. Almost all of them, slaughtered, left to become mindless monsters. And the Ranger-general… "Silvermoon has fallen." She said finally. "The Ranger-general Sylvanas Windrunner was struck down and killed. That was when the undead really broke through."

The two men beside her stared at her, shocked. "It can't be…" The younger one whispered. "My family. My brother, my sisters, my parents… This means…" Kateri cut him off. "There's more." She said, her voice broke and she struggled to contain her rage. "Sylvanas was struck down by Arthas himself. And he took her soul from her body and made her a banshee."

Now the two men looked as though they'd just become ghosts, their faces draining of color, something Kateri didn't think possible for the younger one he was already so pale. "What… What the hell?" The older one said with a gasp. All Kateri could do was nod. "Quel'Thalas is gone." She said.

Suddenly, the cell door was thrown open and three skeletal guards, a young woman, and two men entered the room. "Ah, finally." One of the men said. He was tall with rough features, and if not for the graying skin and yellowing eyes he might have been handsome for a human at one time. Kateri recognized him immediately. It was the man who had taken her from the other cell. "It seems you have finally awakened, little elf."

He bent menacingly over Kateri and stroked her hair with a clawed hand. "Timeless, simply timeless. This is why I love to capture elves, because no matter how you twist their bodies, they're still so mysteriously beautiful." Kateri shuddered and longed to slap the smirk off his rotting face. She wished his jaw would fly off with it.

"I know very much about you, Katei Thornfang. You were ranked very high in among the Farstriders. You were one of their best, overpowering the others in skill, speed, and strength alike. In time, you probably could have surpassed Sylvanas herself." He grinned. "But we've got better use for you."

He walked away from her and walked to the younger of the two men. "Ledien Fireborn. Son of Ivoreth Fireborn and youngest member of the Silvermoon city guard. You're strong and skilled, but you have a bad temper and you don't think things through enough. However, Dahlia tells me that she's never seen someone with greater determination." He laughed. "It should be fun to break your will, elf."

He then stood over the red haired man. "Tell me, Raethiel Dawningsky, does it hurt." He poked a clawed finger into one of the infected wounds on the man's chest. Raethiel hissed in pain. "We also know of you too. Raethiel Dawningsky, famed among the old guard for his work against the Trolls of Zul'Aman. Retired for several years, but offered his services when news came that the scourge broke through the gates."

"Do you feel it?" The undead asked the elf, leaning close, emphasizing every word. "Do you feel the plague starting to take you? Is it getting harder to contain yourself?" He laughed and ripped open the wound. The elf screamed, there were tears pouring down his cheeks. Kateri wanted to scream too, she wanted to scream at the undead to-

"Stop!" Ledien screamed. "Stop it! What purpose is there in doing that?" He snarled. Kateri looked at him, surprised. She hadn't expected such an outburst from him. The scourge in the room seemed surprised too. Their Lord standing silent for a moment. Suddenly his head snapped towards Ledien, his gaze filled with rage.

"How dare you?!" He bellowed and with a whoosh of icy air the undead was standing over Ledien. He struck him hard in his chest, further wounding his already bruised and broken ribs. Ledien's breath left him with a puff of air and he sputtered, gasping to regain his breath.

"Gather them." He said and the three skeletal guards came forward, each unshackling and rebinding an elf. "And let us take our leave."

As they walked, Kateri could hear the two elves behind her both gasping in pain. She twisted her head around, trying to get a good look at them, but the skeletal guard forced her head forward.

They were lead down a narrow corridor and up a small flight of stairs. At the top, blindfolds were forced over their eyes and they were tossed into a wagon. They rode along a bumpy road in mostly silence, accept for Raethiel who struggled to breathe and moaned when they hit the worst bumps.

They turned a corner and were all smashed into the side of the wagon. Kateri grunted as she forced herself into a sitting position and bent forward far enough that her bound hands were able to take off the blindfold. She looked around the wagon and discovered that they were not the only people in there. There were four other elves there as well.

She worked her way over to where Ledien and Raethiel lay by crawling on her forearms and knees. She tore off the two men's blindfolds. "Thank you." Ledien whispered in relief and Kateri nodded. She turned her attention to Raethiel and gasped. He looked awful. His eyes were rolling back in his head and there was a thin trickle of blood coming from the corner of his mouth. The wounds on his chest were open and bleeding, and new bruised had formed around the gashes. She grabbed him and laid him on his back. She took the three cloth blind folds in her hands, balled them up, and pressed them against his chest the best she could.

Ledien was beside her now, looking over her shoulder with concern. "Oh no…" He said. "He's…. turning." Kateri nodded, but sighed. "It was going to happen anyways, and it's going to happen to us too." She heard Ledien gasp and turned to look at him. "I wasn't finished earlier. There was more I was going to tell you. I already told you about Sylvanas becoming a banshee, but there's more. The scourge has been creating an army of undead warriors, raising the strongest of those heroes they find from the dead and turning them into heartless monsters. They call them Death Knights. They're not brainless like the normal undead running mindlessly around in the armies. And they're much, much stronger. However, there aren't very many of them created of yet, and as they experiment to create stronger death knights that are more in the control of the scourge there are some failures in their experiments. Ones that are warped or attack anything they see, including other undead." She looked down at her bound hands in rage. "I fear…" She whispered. "That we are the next subjects for their experiments."

Ledien did not want to believe what he was hearing. They were to become undead, part of an army of terrifying, powerful warriors called Death Knights. Death Knights… His earlier fears of simply being tortured and killed for information on Quel'Thalas were now long gone and completely replaced by much bigger and very possible fears. He felt himself shut down. Everything he had was gone. His home, his people, his family, the guard, Quel'Thalas, all of it was gone. They were all taken by the scourge. And now his very will, his very sanity and mind, were about to be taken by them too.

He looked at Kateri, wishing that the young woman before him was lying to him. He _wished_ it was all a cruel joke, something he could just forget and leave behind. But no, this was real. He could the way it was real. He could feel it in the way the ropes that bound his hands in front of him and bound his ankles cut into his skin from movement and being tied to tight. He could feel it in the way his ribs throbbed with every breath he took. He could hear in the ragged breaths Raethiel sucked in as his life slowly and painfully faded from him. He could see it in the way Kateri sat looking at her hands, knowing they would soon be covered in the blood of the innocent.

At that very moment Ledien's sanity expired, rage and fury overflowing as it poured through him. And he found strength in it. He ripped the ropes apart, tearing his wrists free and then tore at his ankles until the rope binding them snapped too. He stood, roared in fury, and jumped for the front of the wagon. "No!" Kateri called, trying to grab him. He exploded onto the skeletal warriors who then came tumbling into the back of the cart as they fought Ledien.

The elf attacked them like a lion. He grabbed one and snapped its arm off and then grabbed another, smashing its skull into the metal frame of the wagon. Kateri watched in wonder and shock. Ledien was incredible for someone who was on the edge of death and now fighting death itself with his bare hands. Kateri managed to kick the knees in on one of the skeletons. It fell on her and clawed at her with its remaining arm. She cried out as it barely missed her eye.

"Hurry and hold them!" A voice called from up front in the wagon. "We are nearing our destination and the master will not be pleased if the subjects are not contained!"

Kateri looked to Ledien for help as she tried to fend off the skeletal warrior who was trying to claw her eyes out, but saw that he too was having his own difficulties. His adrenaline and strength were fading, he would soon fall. And so would she…

"Enough!" The Lord screamed from the front. Suddenly, the tall undead leaped into the back of the wagon. With a puff on cold air he had Ledien by throat. "You!" He snarled. "You will learn your place." He threw Ledien to the floor and raised his tall staff over him, the pointed end down. Kateri's eyes watched in horror, but the skeleton was still pinning her down.

The undead slammed his staff down into Ledien with a horrible thud. Blood squirted out of the wound and poured from the elf's mouth as he coughed. It was staining his pale blond hair and a large pool of it spread out across the floor of the wagon. Kateri felt something warm under her. She picked up her hand to see it covered in his blood and gagged.

Above them all, the undead stood grinning as he watched Ledien die. The pointed metal staff had gone right through the elf's heart, killing him, and at the same time poisoning him with the plague. He laughed as he looked at the young female who lay stunned on the wagon floor pinned beneath a skeleton, her expression of pure horror. He pulled the staff out of the elf boy and picked him up by the hair.

"Let this serve as a lesson for those who defy the scourge." He said and threw the elf down beside the girl. He turned his attention to the skeletal warrior. "Get up and go drive." He said. "We're currently flying blind."

The skeleton stood and bowed its head. "Yes Lord Hairon."

Lord Hairon waited until the skeleton was gone and knelt next to the petrified girl. He bent low and whispered in her ear. "You're lucky Elvin girls are so pretty." He said, his breath making her shiver. "Or I'd gut you like your friends." He stood and kicked Raethiel in the ribs, but the man was motionless. He smirked and walked to the front of the wagon. "Pathetic…" He muttered.

He looked out at the Plaguelands and sighed. Master Kel'Thuzad and Master Arthas would not be pleased by his lack of control on these elves. He glanced back at Kateri who sat holding both Raethiel and Ledien's head in her lap, stroking their hair. She had tears streaking down her face and that terrified look had not left her eyes. Hairon smirked, perhaps there was a chance that breaking _her_ would be easier. She already looked halfway gone. Oh the fun he would have breaking her and the other elves' souls. That is, if his was still intact by the end of his meeting with his masters…


	3. Chapter 3

Naxxramas came into view as the wagon turned another corner. The reddish, orangey sky was starting to turn a dirty crimson color that slightly resembled dried blood as the night began to fall. An entire day it had taken to awaken and transport all of their Elvin prisoners and Hairon was not happy. The constant interruptions had put him on edge, as if he wasn't already dreading the meeting to come. The undead felt tired. Not physically, of course, but stretched. His mind had reached its limits for the day, and he was beginning to lose his patients.

He grumbled in displeasure as they pulled up to the huge ziggurat and ordered a couple of skeletal soldiers to take the prisoners from the wagon, dead ones included. He grabbed a young cultist by the arm. Hairon recognized him from the training classes he'd taught in Kel'Thuzad's absence. "Shane, is it not?" He asked the boy. The young man's face lit up. "Yes, Lord Hairon! What can I do for you, my Lord?"

"Would you please direct the guards to take these seven prisoners," He gestured to the elves who were being dragged from the wagon like rag dolls. "To the Plague Wing. Give them to Noth and Heigan. They will know what is to be done with them." Shane beamed. "Of course my Lord." He said with a slight bow. "Wait." Hairon called to the young cultist. Shane turned. "Use this." Hairon opened a large portal. "It will last longer than a simple one so that you may all use it at once." Shane nodded graciously. "Thank you, my Lord."

Hairon advanced through the portal and prepared himself to meet with the newly reborn Kel'Thuzad.

It was at times like this that Shane dislike being in the Cult of the Damned. Lord Hairon had been bringing in an alarming amount of prisoners of late and as he led the newest ones to their demise, he could only feel a twinge of guilt for them. These ones were elves, not humans like Shane, but elves. And they'd done nothing to Shane, not like HIS kind had. Shane had been alone since a young age. His parents had been slaughtered by a renegade guild. This had been where Shane's dislike for humans had come from. He had been forced to watch his mother and father die at the hands of monsters. Horrible people, those guild members were, and they would have killed Shane had an unlikely hero not saved him. An elf had saved him. A tall, swift elf whose name Shane had never been told, but whose face the young man would never forget. That was the reason why Shane could hardly look at the elves being carried to their doom.

Especially not that girl, he could hardly stand to glance at her. She was very pretty yes, long brown hair and beautiful blue eyes. But there was so much fear in her face, that it killed Shane to look at her. She wasn't watching Shane anyways, her eyes were on the two other elves who weren't blindfolded. One was tan skinned with long red hair and horrible gashes in his chest. He was sweating and his eyes rolled back into his head. But the worst part was that the flesh around his wounds was beginning to rot. The plague was already claiming him. The other elf was younger than the red haired man, and had slightly shorter white-blond hair and very pale skin. This one appeared to be already dead though. He had a large wound right in the heart.

Shane cringed and forced his gaze away. There was no doubt in his mind that the girl had watched them die. Guilt flamed up in him again as he remembered how he'd felt when he'd watched his parents die, but he shoved it away and lead them down into the Plague Wing.

"Master Noth." He said to the tall man who stood over a caldron. Noth turned around, his gray-white hair falling in his face. "Ah, Shane. Are these the prisoners from Quel'Thalas?" Shane nodded. "Lord Hairon asked me to bring them to you."

Noth beckoned them all forward. "Put them in the cells down the hall. It doesn't matter if there are already prisoners in there. Just keep the infected prisoners separate from the healthy ones." With that he turned back to the caldron.

Shane led the skeletal guards to down a corridor and forced himself to look over at the prisoners. Someone from inside one of the overcrowded cells spat at him and muttered something vulgar. Shane ignored them and instructed the guards to place the red haired man and the blond man inside the cells full of already plagued and dying soldiers. There were eight cells total, two filled to the brim with the dying. He put each of the remaining elves in the less crowded ones, feeling a twinge of sympathy for them. The stunned female was the last one to be put into a cell. And thankfully, the last cell left was filled with the most… decent… of the prisoners.

He left immediately after all the cell doors were locked, dismissing the skeletons to their post and bowing to Noth. He tried to push the guilt from his mind. This was not how a Cultist of the Damned was supposed to feel about the prisoners his masters brought in from their destruction. Destruction was beautiful, and to die and be risen from the grave was an honor. Only the highest of cultists had this honor bestowed upon them. Shane smiled at himself, pleased that he was perhaps a step closer to that honor since Lord Hairon himself had given him a task.

It was hard to believe that Hairon had once been a simple cultist. It was said he had been Kel'Thuzad's personal favorite though, and Shane suspected that this was the reason he'd advanced so quickly. Not to mention he was cunning, cruel, and incredibly skilled in his craft. Hairon had brought in over seven hundred prisoners in the last two months, and only one hundred or so were even taken to Naxxramas, and of those prisoners, only half had been remotely close to successful experiments. Shane shuddered as he thought about that one small glimpse he'd seen of a "failed" experiment. The prisoners had been killed and brought back from the dead, of course, but they had tried different spells out on them, ones that would, or so the scourge hoped, stop the body from further rotting and deteriorating in strength, decrease emotions in the mind, and corrupt the being so that the mind was not only locked under their master's command, but completely filled with rage and anger… And the thirst to kill…

It had been a woman that Shane had seen, and by the looks of it, she wasn't very old. Her body had been twisted by the dark magic in the spells. Her skin was burned and nearly melted, her hair was fried away and her eyes were strangely large. Her limbs were abnormally long and twisted and she was unable to walk. But that wasn't nearly the scariest thing about her. The worst of it was that she seemed more like a feral wild animal than a mindless scourge or something once human. She rasped and spat and hissed like an animal with a raspy, croaking voice that was absolutely horrifying. Shane had gagged at the sight of her. But the horror didn't stop there. Shane heard something one of the cultists said to his friend as they hauled her away. "At least we don't have to handle the REALLY bad ones."

Shane nearly fainted at the thought. If that woman had been one of the "better" outcomes, he couldn't imagine the worst of them…

Kateri huddled against the only available corner of the cell. She pulled her knees to her chest and took a peak at the other prisoners. There were seven other prisoners in the cramped cell, but by the looks of it, this cell was the least crowded out of them all. She felt someone looking at her and glanced to her left to see a night elf in the other corner. He was tall with shady, violet skin and long, teal hair that fell over him gracefully. His dark amber eyes watched her with a mixed look of pity, suspicion, and curiosity. He gave a slight smile and Kateri looked away. She wasn't interested socializing, at least, not at the moment.

She buried her face in her knees. Ledien's death had struck her hard, worse than Silvanas's death somehow. Perhaps it had been her slight admiration in the ways he'd stood up to the scourge leader. Lord Hairon, that was what she'd heard the young human call him. Hairon…. The name was somehow familiar. The man was truly frightening, and it was saying a lot if a Farstriders was scared of something. And Kateri wasn't one of the faint of heart either. She'd always been naturally strong and resilient. Her family had been killed in a fire when she was young, only just a child, and she'd been virtually alone ever since. Her uncle, a Farstrider himself, had been entrusted with her wellbeing after that and he had been the one to see the potential ranger in Kateri. Kateri liked her uncle. He was fair and kind, but not overly sympathetic or too protective, and Kateri was happy that he had been the one to both take her in and teach her.

She smiled inwardly, indulging herself in her memories for a moment. She was sparing with him. He was teaching her how to duel wield daggers today. "Good." He said as she used both the daggers as a shield against his sword. "You can defend." He took another swing at her. "But can you switch quickly to attack?" Kateri switched the daggers' direction, dodged his blade, and took a swing at his legs. He jumped back just in time and came down on her hard with the sword. She sidestepped but he tripped her and sent her sprawling. She tried to get up quickly but his foot came down on her cloak and pulled her down again. He stood over her and offered her his hand. "If I were an enemy I could have killed you easily." He said. "You need more practice. Especially with your left hand since your right is the dominant side. You need to gather more strength in your left wrist." She nodded and regained her balance a she stood. "Come," Her uncle said. "Let's eat." She sat down next to him on the soft grass. She ran her hand through it and jumped, surprised. Something was wrong with the grass. It felt hard and cold…

She gasped as she snapped back into reality and looked to see the cold stone cell around her. She was lying on the cold floor, her back pressed against the barred door. The others in the cell were staring at her in confusion. "You alright there lass?" A gruffy voiced dwarf said from the back wall. Kateri sat up and nodded. "Sorry." She said, apologizing. The dwarf smiled at her with a mouth that was missing a few teeth. "For what?" He asked. "Ye were dreamin, nothing wrong there." Kateri eyes him oddly for a moment. Something told her that she'd been moving more in her sleep.

"My name's Tyriv Brokenaxe, member of the argent dawn, in case you couldn't tell from my tabard." The dwarf said. Tyriv was large for a dwarf, but still smaller than a normal human man. He had a black beard and hair, dark eyes, and skin that showed signs of being frostbitten. Kateri forced herself to smile at him. "I am Kateri Thornfang of Quel'Thalas." She said.

Tyriv looked her up and down for a moment. "You're a Farstrider?" He asked. Kateri nodded, caught off guard. "Um, yes actually." She replied. Tyriv grinned. "I always know a Farstrider when I see one. I once had quite a few friends among them." There was something sad in his voice. "I recognize the get up."

Kateri looked down at her armor, or what was left of it. Her cloak and gloves were gone, but her chest piece, pants, boots, and bracers still remained. The dwarf was right it was traditional Farstrider armor, leather with a small bit of light weight chainmail. One could tell another's ranks by the color of their armor. For trainees and the lower ranked it was green, gold, brown, and little white. For the higher ranked it was brown, crimson, black, and a little gold or blue depending on the rank. And for the leaders or the top of the ranks it was blue, black, and a little white, gold, or silver. Kateri herself was a in the very middle of the ranks, she'd been maybe only days away from being one of the higher ranked. Her armor was black boots with red strapping that came up to just a above her knees, long, thick, dark brown skin tight leggings with simple chainmail on the inner thighs, a hard, black chainmail and leather belt with hip protection and a blue crystal in the center, a chainmail shirt and black hard leather vest with red embroidery on the soft spots that was long sleeved, long, black hard leather bracers with more red strapping, dark brown gloves that were chainmail around the wrists, and one final thing, a long, hooded cloak that was black on the outside and blue on the inside fastened to her armor by to metal bound blue crystals identical to the one on her belt. As for her weapons, her specially made, long, bladed bow that had been made from the light, flexible, inner wood of the giant oaks in Quel'Thalas was gone. As were her two entirely silver forearm length daggers and her long sword.

Her vulnerability made her feel insecure. She felt almost naked without her cloak and weapons. She'd never been good at hand to hand combat and without her weapons she felt like a helpless newborn in the clutched of a heartless, mindless giant who could crush her at will.

Tyriv was suddenly speaking again. "So, I'm guessing by now that you have at least a notion at why you're here." He said with a sad smile. Kateri nodded and sat up a little straighter leaning back against the bars. "They're creating an army." She said. "Of unstoppable scourge beings called Death Knights." Tyriv was the one to nod this time. "I figured the Farstriders would have this information already. But I don't think you've been told the-"

"Tyriv." The night elf sitting in the other corner interrupted him with a stern voice. The dwarf huffed. "Tharasin, what's the point of hiding something when ye all are bound to be dead in a week's time. Or worse."

The night elf, Tharasin, frowned and let out a sigh. "Fine." He said.

Tyriv ignored him and continued. "What I was saying was I don't think ye know the whole story. The scourge has been more than successful in creating this army of theirs. And I've the sneaking thought that it's been going on much longer that we all think. For you see, as we found out, the scourge has even been successful in raising the holy spirits of dead Argent Knights, even powerful ones such as Alexandros Mograine."

Kateri's eyes widened, she'd heard that name before. _Mograine…_ This was a bigger, more horrifying mess than she'd initially thought…


	4. Chapter 4

Hairon felt his body shift as he entered and exited the portal, not helping him as he tried to gather his control. But when he saw Kel'Thuzad standing there in the center of a round room as a newly reborn lich, his irritation fled and he immediately bowed. "My Lord Kel'Thuzad."  
Kel'Thuzad gave him a slight nod and Hairon stood. "Hairon, you're late." He said plainly. Hairon swallowed. "My apologies, my lord, we had a slight delay." Kel'Thuzad sighed. "I cannot stay angry with you. I did, after all, find out all the information on them. Elves seem so fragile, but in truth they are perhaps the most armored race in this world besides maybe dragons." The Lich turned and floated away from Hairon. "I suppose you're wondering where Lord Arthas is?"  
"I am a bit curious…" Hairon said as he fiddled with the skull ring on his finger, still feeling nervous around his former teacher and mentor in his new form.  
"He is preparing for our next journey. We are headed to Alterac. And I will finally be able to tell him of our King's next move." Kel'Thuzad said. "However, I feel he is hiding something. Though he hasn't given me a single hint of what it is he's thinking." The Lich sounded irritated and Hairon saw the perfect opportunity to make up for his faults. He came to Kel'Thuzad's side and stared down at the little blue orb resting on its obsidian stand, a scrying orb that Kel'Thuzad had snuck out of Dalaran when he'd been exiled by the Kirin'Tor. There was the picture of a young man with frosty hair that hung in waves to his shoulders. He bore a smirk that had a hint of darkness in it. Hairon had seen this man only twice before. Once when he first came to the Cult searching for the promises of dark power, and again when he himself had achieved the highest status in the Cult, when he was turned and became one of the immortal undead.  
"I find it unfair that won't share his information with you, after all that you've now been through." Hairon said, trying to suppress the deviousness in his voice.  
Kel'Thuzad turned and looked at his student through strange, new eyes that were slightly unnerving. "Indeed." The Lich complained. "It would only seem right for him to do so."  
Hairon smirked, he'd hit the mark perfectly. "Well, I, my Lord. I intend to give you my full support in the eternities to come. You did, after all, bestow upon me the most wonderful of gifts." And the undead wasn't even lying as he said this, despite his intentions to gain more favor.  
Kel'Thuzad gave laughed, a strange sound coming from him, it was even stranger than Hairon's own rough laugh. "This is one the many reasons I chose you as a favorite." He said. "You were always devoted to your leaders, no matter what was to follow or what had already begun. I admire you in a way, Hairon. You always seem so steady, so determined in what you do. It reminds me of myself when I was among the Kirin'Tor, while I was working and studying with the plague, creating my own in the end." Hairon was surprised, he'd expected gratitude from his master, yes, but never had he expected for Kel'Thuzad to open up to him in such a way.  
Suddenly, a bright light flashed over him and Hairon felt faint. The light enveloped the room and was replaced by vivid images. There were horses galloping around him, and fire, so much fire and smoke. It was hard to breath. He was choking but he couldn't give up. "Kiri!" He felt himself call, his voice was oddly high pitched. "Kiri where are you? Kiri come, girl, come." There was a massive black dog at his side. "Good girl. Now where's Mama?"  
The animal lead him to an empty stable. He could hear someone crying. "Mama?" He ran around the stalls, finding himself quite short and unable to see over the stalls. He ran right into an armored figure, a bandit, who whirled around to face the boy.  
"This your mama?" He asked and tossed a pale and bleeding woman to the hay covered floor before him. Terror gripped him and he was unable to speak.  
Suddenly, Kiri plowed into the man in a blur of black. The man screamed as he dog's jaws tore him to shreds. But the man remained strong. He grabbed his sword and plowed it into the dog's throat. Now Hairon was screaming, but mostly with anger. "Kiri!" he screamed. "Mama! No!" He launched himself onto the man and began punching him furiously, but the man merely picked him up by his hair and threw him down. "You damned brat." He said, spitting on him before leaving.  
Hairon sat in horrified silence, holding the two lifeless bodies of the most important people in his life. They were now gone… As was Hairon's sanity…

Kateri had been listening to Tharasin and Tyriv for quite some time. According to what they told her, Alexandros Mograine had been killed by his eldest son and then resurrected by the scourge as one of the Four Horsemen. And to make matters more shocking, he was here in Naxxramas, as a death knight.  
"We snuck into the Plaguelands hoping to gather information on our foes here. Naxxramas was our main focus, knowing what we do about Alexandros. His son Darion sent us. It shocked us all that this could happen to even Argent Knights and Knights of the Silver Hand. Our souls our pure, not sinless, but purer than those of ordinary men. It's horrifying to know that we may soon share the same fate as all those mindless beings out there." Tyriv said as a conclusion to his story. The dwarf seemed to nearly shake as he said those last words. He was filled with a fury that was rare in the world. No doubt the dwarf was stronger in spirit than even his companion, Tharasin.  
The night elf, on the other hand, sat quietly in his corner, his arms folded across his chest in silent defiance. "They took us by surprise." He said, catching Kateri off guard. "We were trying to discover a way to get into this wretched place. We'd found out nearly nothing besides the fact that Alexandros was indeed in Naxxramas. So we thought that perhaps at least finding a way into the ziggurat would make up for our lack of usefulness on this quest."  
Tyriv nodded. "Darion trusts us. And though he may not be part of the Argent Crusade himself, he still fights alongside us in this war, if you can even call it that."  
Kateri thought this through. So would this mean the Argent Crusade, and some of the Knights of the Silver Hand, might soon attack Naxxramas? But if Alexandros was supposedly already a member of the scourge, what point was there in attempting to free him? The only thing that could save the man now was death, true death.  
Suddenly, footsteps echoed in the hall that lead to the cells. Everyone in the cage froze and moved back from the door. The young cultist, Shane, who'd brought her and the other elves to the cells, and a two tall, white haired human men, cultists as well, appeared and stopped at the edge of their cell. Kateri froze, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see the others did as well. But then her attention switched to the skeletal guard standing behind the three figures. He was holding the chains to a young High elf who was dressed in robes that would have been beautiful if not for the huge blood stains on it.  
Shane opened the cage and the two tall cultists walked in. "That one." One of the men said, pointing to a small human girl in the back corner of the cage. The other prisoners shrunk away from her as the skeletal guard walked in, unshackled the terrified elf, and chained up the young human. Shane bowed his head as the elder cultists left with the guard and the girl.  
"Please no." Kateri could hear the girl whimpering. "I just want to go home and see my family. I don't mean you any offense. I don't have any information. I have nothing, I swear. Please don't kill me. Please…" And then she was gone.  
The terrified elf sat in the middle of the cage, frozen in fear and shaking. He had a black eye and his long silvery hair was matted to his face and neck with blood. He looked like most High elves in Quel'Thalas, silvery hair that grew unnaturally fast, big, expressive, sapphire colored eyes, with a light build, and high cheekbones on his pretty face.  
Instinctively, Kateri reached out to him. He was one of her kind, someone of the same race as her, an ally, a possible friend, a victim of the slaughter in Quel'Thalas, just as she was. She stood up and walked to him and then helped him to stand. "It's alright." She said in Thalassian. "You're not alone in this."  
She lead him to her corner helped him sit against the stone wall. Something was wrong with his leg and he winced every time he moved. Kateri felt bad for him, the terror in his eyes told her that he'd probably never seen bloodshed in his entire life up until this day. She wondered who he was, where he was from, if he knew what happened after Silvermoon fell. But Kateri didn't push him. She simply asked him his name. "Can you talk?" She asked and he nodded. "Can you tell me your name?"  
The elf looked at the stone floor in front of him as if he was trying to remember who he even was. Finally he looked up at her and said. "My name is Edaryan Suntalon."

Raethiel slowly opened his eyes. His whole body ached and his chest was burning, and he found it even harder to breath now. He squinted in the darkness trying to make out the room around him. He was once again in a prison cell, only this time he wasn't alone. All around him were injured and dying people. And as Raethiel looked at them, he slowly came to realize that they were all infected with the plague, like him. The sight of it was disgusting. The disfigured bodies of humans, dwarves, and elves lay scattered across the blood covered floor and the room stunk horribly with the smell of blood and rotting flesh. The elf gagged and crawled over a young human to the cell door and gasped for cleaner air, not that the air in the hall was much better.  
He looked around the hall outside the door and saw that there were more cells with even more prisoners. He gaped at the number of people he saw in each of them. All of the cells were overcrowded and the people inside looked already dead. Their faces were gaunt and most sat in lifeless silence. He could hear a couple of people from a nearby cell whispering, but nothing more. Accept for the murmurs and growls from the cell across from his.  
His eyes drifted to that cell. It was even darker than Raethiel's cell and he could here creatures scuffling around in there. Then suddenly, many pairs of glowing yellow and or red eyes stared at him from within the darkness. One of the creatures stumbled forward and Raethiel gasped. The beings in the cell were other prisoners, ones that were already beginning to turn. Another one of them came forward, dragging something behind it. To Raethiel's disgust, it was a body. The creature held the body up with a grin and Raethiel jumped back when he saw it. The body the creature held was Ledien.  
Suddenly, the air in the hall began to shimmer and swirl, and then it opened. And out stepped a familiar figure. It was Lord Hairon, who looked odd though, covered in sweat and a bit shaky as he walked. He grinned at Raethiel before turning to the other cell. "Perfect." Raethiel heard him say. "They've all begun to shift." He opened the cell and the creatures retreated automatically like scared dogs. Hairon growled something under his breath and began dragging the creatures into the hall. "You listen to me now. I control your soul for the time being." He hissed.  
He locked up the cell and Raethiel got a brief glance between Hairon's legs and saw that Ledien remained on the floor. He gave an anxious sigh before a tingling feeling spread down his spine. He looked up to see Hairon staring at him. "Shouldn't you be dead?" He asked and spat at Raethiel viciously before walking away, the creatures following.  
Once he was gone, Raethiel edged closer to the door again. "Ledien." He whispered. "Ledien." He said it a little louder this time. "Ledien." He said again. There was no answer what so ever, not even the slightest movement from the beat up boy. Raethiel squinted again in attempt to see what was wrong with the boy. And then he saw it, the gaping hole where his heart was supposed to be. Sickened, Raethiel back up, ignoring the stench of death in his cell. Ledien was dead. He was gone, destroyed, and all because of these monsters. His fists clenched in fury and he felt an urge to nearly growl. He made a silent promise to Ledien, that someday, Raethiel would destroy Hairon. He would rip him apart, even if he took his life in the process…

Hairon was extremely irritated. After his little… Episode… He awoke to see Kel'Thuzad, much to his embarrassment. And after which, the Lich had laughed at him and told him to go and see to the already-turning prisoners. Infuriated, but without much of a choice, he did as he was told. At least one thing was going smoothly; almost an entire cell full of them was ready to be turned over.  
"Noth." He said as he entered the necromancer's chamber. "Some prisoners are ready." He said. Hairon stepped aside and Noth looked over the prisoners with a faint smile. "Good then." The cultists said. "You're just in time. I think I've finally perfected a spell for the decay and such. Give them here." Hairon nodded and walked to the edge of the room. Noth picked out a tall human with a heavy build and said. "If this works on him, it should be spectacular on the others."  
Blue mist began to pour out of the necromancer's fingertips as he muttered something under his breath. His eyes rolled back in his head and a whirlwind of cold air surrounded him. He stood on his tiptoes, every muscle in his body clenched. The mist began to darken from blue to black as it swirled its way to the half-undead human a few feet away. The man started to back away but Hairon caught him. "Stay where you are, mortal!" He barked and the man froze. The mist poured into the man through his mouth and started to carry him off the floor. "Strike him down, Hairon." Noth called through his teeth. Hairon pulled out a dagger and slammed it into the man's through, effectively killing him in an instant. The mist stopped and the man dropped to the floor with a thud. All was silent for a moment as the whirlwind stopped and Noth's body relaxed. Then, the man opened his eyes and the mist poured out of them, blue, like before. The man shuddered and struggled to his hands and knees. He let out a low growling sound before taking a deep breath and standing.  
Noth grinned at his creation. "Pure, tainted, perfection." He said with a laugh.


	5. Chapter 5

"They killed everyone." Edaryan said, shaking. "Everyone! Women, children, soldiers, nobles, we were all the same to them. Just- Just animals to them." Tears poured down his cheeks. "My love and I hid in the storage room of an armor shop and tried to stay hidden… But it didn't work, they found us anyways. There was a warlock with them, one who was still... human… He pointed at me and told them to take me, but my love, my sweet Jaela, they killed her!" The poor man burst into sobs for what must have been the fourth time since he came and Kateri put her arm around him, trying to comfort him. "Everyone's gone!" He sobbed. "I've never seen so much blood in my life…"

Tyriv put a hand on the man's shoulder. "I know." He said solemnly. "My wife was slaughtered by a band of Orcs six years ago." He let out a depressed sigh. "I thought I'd never go on with life. But I did, because I knew that my dear Lyla would want me to live my life as best I could. So I did, in her name, I did. And I tracked down those Orcs and did the best thing I could possibly do for my poor Lyla. I beat them all and tied them up and did I kill them?" The dwarf grinned. "Nope, I did something better. In shackles and at gun point, I forced them to dig a grave for my Lyla. And after I buried her and cried my eyes out, I took from them the one thing an unmarried man holds dear, his man hood. I cut off their balls and burned them. And after that, I let them go."

Edaryan's eyes were like saucers. "You let them GO?" He exclaimed. Tyriv nodded. "Aye, but that's beside the point. The point is, I kept going, I stayed strong for my Lyla, and avenged her the best I could. And you, , should do just the same. It's the best thing you could possibly do." Kateri smiled at Tyriv and gave a nod in thanks to the dwarf. Then she looked to Edaryan who was fiddling with a ring on this index finger. "Tyriv," He said and looked up, wiping the tears from his face. "You are… right. That is the best thing I can do. And I will do just that."

Kateri amazed, she would have never guess that the dwarf had been through that in any way. He had such a strong spirit and personality. And now… Here he was awaiting his death. Here they all were awaiting their deaths, her, Tyriv, Tharasin, Edaryan, the two humans who sat quiet in the corners of cell, that young human woman who they'd taken earlier. All of them. They'd already taken Raethiel and Ledien, not to mention entire countries full of other people they'd killed too. Her fists clenched in fury, she ground her teeth and felt the urge to scream. This must have been how Ledien felt, she thought. Poor, poor Ledien…

"Those damned monsters. That damned coward Arthas!" She yelled. "He and the Lich King, all of them, they'll all pay for what they've done. I promise this to all of you." She said and shook the bars of the cell that held them. "I swear to god, I'll make them pay for-"

"Kateri , you're alive!" A familiar rough voice rasped from a few cells away across the hall.

Almost afraid of what she'd see, Kateri slowly turned her head to see Raethiel's battered form as he supported himself against the bars of his cell. "Raethiel… My god, it's you. I thought you were dead. They killed Ledien, and I thought you had already died…" She said.

Raethiel nodded the best he could. "I know, I thought I was dead too." The middle aged elf looked haggard as he nearly sagged against the cell door. Kateri felt awful for him. "Ledien's across the hall from me." He said suddenly. "You were right, he's dead." Kateri's heart fell even though she already knew and she sat down on her knees. "I didn't want to believe it…" She admitted. "I still don't." Raethiel nodded and lowered himself to the floor.

"Do you know what's odd?" Raethiel suddenly asked after a moment. "I'd never seen either of you in my life until the prison. And I only knew YOU for a few minutes after you awoke. But when I realized you were still alive, my heart seemed to leap with joy." He laughed. "And I hardly know a thing about you. Or you about me…"

Kateri smiled. "You're right." She said. "And it is odd. I watched all my comrades fall just a few days ago at the hands of Arthas, saw thousands of people be slaughtered. And I only cried after I thought the two of you were dead. It may have just been because I knew what fate you would both have, that we all have, but still, I never cry." She gave a bitter laugh.

Raethiel smiled at her, but his eyes were sad. "Listen Kateri, I'm not going to be here much longer." He looked down at his bloody chest. "I can feel the plague running through me, shifting my body. It's getting harder and harder to maintain myself. Soon, I won't be me, and after that, they'll take me. The same goes with Ledien." He looked up at her with pleading eyes. "You have to promise me something."

"Anything." She said eagerly. "If you don't make it out of here either, you must fight the plague, fight it as much as you can. You have to defy them, show them that we will fight them until the end." He said to her.

Kateri gave a nod and reached out to him, he reached to her too, the tips of their fingers touched just barely. "I promise I will." She said. "I promise."

Raethiel smiled but suddenly his face froze up and twisted in pain. "I need to rest." He said. "If I don't, it will over take me…"

Kateri nodded and watched him drag himself back to the middle of cell and sprawl out among other bloodied bodies. She sighed in sadness and turned back to her own cell mates. "I met Raethiel in prison only a day ago." She said gloomily. "He's a good person, so was Ledien, our other… friend."

"Wait… What exactly do you mean about or fates?" Edaryan blurted suddenly.

"Oh. Edaryan, I forgot that you don't know what the rest of us do…" She wasn't sure if she could bear to explain it to him, or if he could take the news. But the young elf deserved to know what was to become of him.

"The scourge has plans for forming an army of extremely powerful, perfected soldiers from the bodies of the best warriors and soldiers they can find. However, they are still experimenting with the different spells and elixirs and such that are involved. WE are their test subjects." Tharasin explained for her. Kateri bit her lip, worried that the young noble would lose his head at the night elf's blunt explanation. But Edaryan merely half crawled, half dragged himself next to Kateri and looked at her. "Is this true?" He asked. Kateri had no choice but to nod. "You've got to be kidding me." He muttered.

"Wait…" He said and sat up straighter, his gaze filled with new horror. "I'm no warrior, I've never held a weapon in my life." Suddenly he grabbed Kateri by the shoulders. "Why am I here?"Kateri once again bit her lip in frustration and worry. "I'm sorry, Edaryan, but I don't know…" A bitter silence followed after that until a new voice joined the conversation.

"Just because you're not a good fighter doesn't mean you're not powerful." A dark haired human said. "You've got a lot of magical power, don't you elf?"

Edaryan gasped. "How did you know?"

The man smirked. "I can sense it, it's part of what makes ME powerful. In battle, I target the most powerful magic users and kill them off first, especially the enemy's healers, and then I work at the rest of them." The man sat up straighter and took his hood off his head. "The name's Kestrel, I come from southern Lordaeron, Hillsbrad to be exact."

Kestrel had a good face, medium length, messy, dark hair that fell over half his face and hid one of his eyes, and fearsome blue eyes. His skin was unnaturally pale for a human, especially a soldier who no doubt spent much of his time outside. Then he turned his head, his hair fell away from his ears and Kateri saw them. His ears, they were pointed, like an elf's. "Are you part elf?" She asked excitedly.

Kestrel blushed and put up his hood. "Half." He admitted. "So is Dominic." He motioned to another man who was one of the other sleeping humans. "I don't know any of the other ones, but I did recognize that girl they took. She was in the army with me, though I never knew her personally." He swallowed and suddenly winced in pain. His hand clutched the hidden half of his face and blood poured steadily between his fingers. "Shit…" He hissed. Suddenly, there was a flash of teal and Tharasin was kneeling next to Kestrel.

"Move your hand," The deep voiced elf instructed. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing, I'm an experienced healer." He explained and gave Kestrel the same smile he had Kateri. And Kateri suddenly felt a little bad for the way she'd treated the elf earlier.

Kestrel moved his hand and everyone in the cell gasped. "Whoa…" Kateri heard Edaryan mutter. Kestrel's eye was completely shredded and a deep, deep gash ran down his face, it reminded her of Raethiel's chest wounds. Tharasin gave a grunt of frustration. "This will be difficult for me to heal." He pushed more of Kestrel's hair away from the wound. "And I don't think I'll be able to restore your sight in that eye. I'm terribly sorry." He hung his head.

"Honestly, there's no point in helping me at all." Kestrel said. "Do none of you see? Are you all more blind than ME? And I've lost an eye." He pushed Tharasin back a bit. "Don't waste your strength." The young man said to the giant elf who's shoulders slumped as he made his way back to where he was sitting. "There is no getting out, there is no getting away. This is the end of us as we know ourselves. After this, we will be nothing more than the dogs of the scourge." He spat on the stone floor beneath them all. "And to be honest, if I'm going to go back into this world a monster, slaughtering my friends and family, ripping everything apart I fought so hard to save, than I'd rather go back being half blind, so that maybe someone will have the chance to escape me," He said. "So that maybe, someone can put me out of my misery when they attack me from my blind side. And then," He paused. "There will be one less monster in this world."

"How dare you say such horrible things!" Someone shouted from beside the morbid human. "Kestrel Alexius Valothar! If I ever hear you speak that way about yourself, I swear to go I'll flay you myself." The human rose up unsteadily and gripped Kestrel by the shoulders. He tugged Kestrel to his feet and then threw him towards Tharasin. "Now get your damned eye healed."

Kestrel didn't listen, instead he got up and shoved the other human into the cell wall. "Fuck, Dominic!" He swore. "You can't deny that it's true. It's true and you know it is. Look at us; don't you remember anything from the battle? You were there when everyone started to die. You saw them rise from their own graves and become monsters. What, Dominic, do you expect is going to happen to us?"

"We're going to get out of here! That's what's going to happen. We're strong, Kestrel, or have YOU forgotten THAT?" Dominic shouted back. Kestrel growled in anger and leapt to attack his friend. But Kateri had heard enough. She leapt to her feet and pushed the two of them away from each other. They landed on the stone floor with identical thuds. "That's enough!" She shouted.

The two men stared at her like two children being reprimanded by their mother. "You stop this pointless, stupid bickering. What good does it do anyone? None!" She shouted. "And I'm sure as hell that the rest of us don't want to hear your crap! Hell! If I have to die today, can't I at least get some damned quiet?"

There was no answer from either of the young men. They simply moved themselves back to where they'd been sitting before and sat quietly. Kateri, satisfied that it was over, and that she'd managed to expel some of her built up anger, was about to sit back down when a flash of light from behind her caused her to jump and she whirled around just as the air opened and shimmered as a portal opened. And out stepped Lord Hairon.

Kateri felt her knees go weak with fear and she shrunk to the floor. Never in her life had a single person seemed so terrifying to her accept maybe Arthas or the Lich King themselves. And she couldn't move as he looked at her, a dirty smirk playing on his lips. She crawled back towards where Tyriv and Tharasin sat and vaguely felt the dwarf pull her towards them protectively. They waited for Hairon to open the cell but he didn't. He simply stared at Kateri with mocking, hungry eyes that made her want to disappear.

"Don't bother her; it's us you've come back for." Raethiel's voiced rasped from the other cell. Hairon's attention snapped to the red headed elf. His expression turned hard with anger and he advanced on the dying man. "You've got quite the nerve for someone half dead." He spat. Raethiel gave him a hard stare. "You've got quite the nerve for somebody who's ALREADY dead." He said defiantly.

Hairon shook with anger. "I could end you here and now and speed up your rebirth if you'd like." He threatened, but Raethiel merely laughed at him bitterly. "What difference does it make? I'm going to die whether you kill me or not." He said. "And honestly, I'd rather not have to deal with your stench any longer." There were a couple laughs from the other cells and Hairon's eyes flashed crimson with boiling fury. "What's the matter?" Raethiel continued to prod with a smirk. Kateri wanted to jump up and down and clap, but fear kept her in check as she leaned forward to see the two of them.

Suddenly, Hairon was smiling. And Kateri shrunk back into her corner. "Alright." He said slowly, as if still forming his plan. "Have it your way." And to Kateri's horror, he opened Raethiel's cell and pulled the man out by his mane of red hair. He dragged Raethiel in front of Kateri's cell and snapped his fingers. Two skeletal guards appeared from nowhere and Hairon handed Raethiel to one of them. He then opened Kateri's cell.

"No!" Kateri heard Raethiel protest. "Leave her be! I started this, not her." Hairon ignored him and advanced upon the female elf, but Tyriv jumped up between them. "You won't be laying a hand on this lass." He growled. Dominic and Kestrel scramble to their feet and stood beside the dwarf who gave them both a nod of approval. And with a rush of air, Tharasin was with them too. "Get out of my way you pathetic mortals." He hissed. The four men didn't move. Hairon clenched his teeth and raised a clawed hand. "Move or I'll kill you all where you stand!" Red energy swirled between his fingers. One by one, they all slunk back to their spots. Kateri didn't blame them. But Tyriv was still standing. "You think I care if-" The dwarf never finished his sentence for instead he suddenly found himself choking on his own blood. "Tyriv, no!" Tharasin rushed to his companion's aid and Hairon shoved past them.

He grabbed Kateri by the arms and smiled at her cruelly. "This is going to be so much fun." He said through his teeth and shoved her into the other skeleton's grip. Hairon locked up the cell and motioned for the guards to follow, prisoners and all. Kateri looked over at Raethiel who was now staring mournfully at his feet. "I'm so sorry." He whispered to her. Kateri felt tears coming on. "You didn't mean for this. And besides, it's like you said. We're going to all die eventually, whether he kills or not." Raethiel didn't reply.

They walked a bit down a hall and through a large room that had another hall that they then went down. They were then in yet another large room where two white haired men stood over a huge cauldron. The smells coming from the cauldron were appalling and Kateri felt her stomach clench in discomfort. "Release them." Hairon instructed the skeletons and Raethiel and Kateri fell to the floor, Raethiel right on his chest. He cried out and Kateri rushed to him, but was pulled back abruptly by Hairon's strong grip. "Where do you think you're going?" He breathed in her ear and licked the tip of it. Kateri thought she was going to puke. "The fun's just beginning."


	6. Chapter 6

**So! Now we're up to six chapters! Woo! Fells great, I've worked my butt off with this story. Thank you few people who have favorited this and followed this story, and thank you to those who have left reviews.**

**Review responses:**

**To guest: She will meet ARthas somewhere within the next five chapters, I don't have a lot of time to think up plans for this story, I just write as I go, so sorry about not having an exact time.**

**To 101Icestormxx: Thank you so much! I don't like to write the norm. And I'm fascinated about elves and I spent a lot of time learning the lore for the elf races and so I've always thought of the Invasion of Quel'thalas as one of the saddest events in the history of the game so Im focusing on it.**

**To Guest: That was a mistake on the documents. My bad!**

**To:Guest: Thank you!**

**To: Guest: Thank you too!**

**To Braeden: As you see, he comes back!**

**I'm working on a war of the ancients story soon. so watch for it.**

"What have we here?" Noth asked as Hairon and the skeletal guards corralled the two elves further into the room. Hairon was grinning, his undead face alive and hungry. "I've been bored." He said, turning to the necromancer. "So I thought we might have a little fun." Noth laughed. "What do you have in mind?"

Hairon walked over to the necromancer and watched the elves. He smirked. "Perfect." He whispered to himself when he formed a plan. "Where are the last experiments, the perfected ones?" He asked suddenly. Noth took a moment to think. "Ah." He said in realization. "I sent them off with Shane to the training grounds." Hairon grumbled, his brows knit as he thought. "Wait!" He exclaimed. "I know exactly what we should do." He started back towards the hall, his pace quickening with excitement. "Keep them here." He shouted back to the guards.

He made his way back through the rooms and halls until he came to the prison once again. He rushed through to the last cell, where the blond elf that was dead, Ledien, still lay unmoving. He opened the cell and lifted up the elf's corpse, dragging it away with him back to where Noth stood waiting. "Here." He dropped the elf at Noth's feet. "Now do what you do best."

Noth began the spell and Hairon looked over to the other two elves crouched on the floor. They were staring at their fallen companion's body with a look of pure horror and Hairon chuckled in delight as he watched them.

There was a suddenly growling sound from behind him and Hairon turned and clapped. "As always, you outdo yourself." He said to Noth who bowed jokingly. "What did you expect?" he asked as he admired his work.

"Now," Hairon said. "Let the fun begin." He pointed to the red headed man with a big mouth. "Bring him over and hold the girl still." The guards did as they were told and separated the two elves that clung to each other. "Raethiel!" Kateri shouted as they dragged him forward and tossed him in the center of the room.

The blond elf was beginning to rise to his feet now, rasping and growling, his eyes glowing a fearsomely bright blue, with frost mist pouring from them, his skin was now grayish, making his hair seem even paler. He coughed up a bit of blood before standing up straight and wiping it away. His eyes scanned the room and settled on Raethiel who was still on his hands and knees, panting as he tried to stand. "Welcome!" Hairon exclaimed. "Welcome dear child of darkness. Welcome to the world of the reborn. Welcome to your second life." Ledien's attention snapped to Hairon and he watched him in silence as he spoke. Only when Hairon was finished did he speak. "Yes…" He breathed. "The world of the reborn, of the superior race." He stretched and his bones and joints snapped as he did so. "Life is just an illusion and now I can see. Now I can see the truth of our great master Arthas and of the Lich King!" His voice echoed off the walls. "Now, what is my first order?" He asked.

"You must prove your worth and loyalty to our masters." Hairon told him. "You must show them that you not only have what it takes to be among our elite ranks, but also that your loyalty is as unfaltering as your strength, Ledien. And in order to do so, you must severe your ties to the living world once and for all."

Ledien's face was filled with eagerness. "What is it that I must do? What will it take? I'll do anything to prove myself to the might of our masters."

Hairon smiled to himself, this was going all too well. "You must kill one who used to be one of your own." He motioned to Raethiel. "You must kill this man. Kill him and join us forever."

Some of the eagerness left Ledien's face as he gazed down at the struggling man before him. "Kill Raethiel?"

"Yes," Hairon confirmed. "Unless you are unworthy of this gift our masters have bestowed upon you."

The young elf's face hardened and he stepped forward willingly. "Give me a blade." He commanded a skeletal guard. Hairon nodded for the guard to comply and the skeleton handed Ledien his blade. The elf took yet another step forward, staring hard at the elf on the floor. Raethiel was staring up at him, horrified. "Ledien, what have they done to you?" He exclaimed, his voice hardly more than a raspy whisper. His eyes filled with sadness. "By the light of the Sunwell…"

"Ledien please!" Kateri screamed from the in the grip of the skeletal guard. "You don't have to do this. You're stronger than this! You died in an effort to END these monsters, don't become one of them. You MUST stop this, you MUST!"

"Quiet, girl!" Hairon snapped and then turned back to Ledien. "Don't listen to her, she's nothing more than a weak mortal. She knows nothing of the power of the scourge."

Ledien stood still and silent, his brows knit and his lips pursed in frustration. For a moment he lowered his weapon, but then he closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. And then with a sudden thunk, his blade was buried in Raethiel's chest. He stared down at the other elf, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open. Raethiel had a similar look on his face accept for now the life was slowly fading from his eyes. He gave a slight, sputtering cough and blood trickled from his mouth in a slow moving line. Slowly, his body fell from the sword and onto the floor and a pool of blood began to run in between the cracks of the stone and branch out across the floor.

"I- I killed him." Ledien whispered. He lowered himself to his knees and stared at Raethiel's lifeless form. And then, his mouth twisted up in a demented smile and he laughed. He tossed the blade back to the guard and stood up. Hairon came and put a hand on Ledien's shoulder. "Welcome, child, to the ranks of the elite." Ledien nodded and continued to smile, satisfied. But his smiled faded and was once again replaced with eagerness. "What now?" He asked. "Now." Hairon began. "You will welcome your knew kin into this world."

Once again, Noth preformed the spell, this time with Raethiel. The mist poured into the red haired warrior causing his body to shudder violently before relaxing back into stillness only the dead could manage. Finally, he opened his eyes, a puff of the blue mist spilling over from within them. Ledien watched in awe, taking in every detail of what happened, a new smile came to him and he rushed forward to give the newly raised, undead, elf a hand and helped him to stand. He looked around the room at the other undead. He gave Ledien a half smile and a nod, and then bowed at Noth and Hairon's feet. "My Lords."

"Rise, soldier." Hairon commanded. "And do as your brother did and prove yourself."

Kateri, stared at the new Raethiel. His eyes, now filled with the chill of death, were piercing, his skin was not as bad as Ledien's since he had only just died, but it'd lost its sun-worn glow, and his hair, long and red was enhanced by the blue, somehow even if death he held handsomeness, even if he was now terrifying and bloody.

Raethiel was looking at her now, but not with the strength and kinship they had before in the cells. Now they looked at her like she was prey, almost as if she was food. She tried to scramble away from his glare, but found the bony hands on her arms only gripping tighter. Raethiel was coming towards her. "Release her." She vaguely heard Hairon order the guards. She was dropped to the floor, her knees hitting it hard, but never once did she look away from those eyes. Raethiel kneeled down next to her, his eyes only inches from hers. He took her hand in his. "Won't you join us sister?" He asked and whipped her over him like she only weighed as much as a feather, and sent her slamming into the stone. She felt some of her bones crack and she groaned. She sat up to see Raethiel laughing at her. He came at her swiftly, a blade now in his hands. He angled it for her heart, but she jumped away, knew fire in her. She had promised the REAL Raethiel she would fight this, that she would fight the plague to the end.

Raethiel growled and threw himself at her again. Kateri sidestepped him and spun around, kicking him in the back. It barely fazed him, but he whirled right around and swung the sword. The tip came within inches of her chest and Kateri gasped, alarmed for a moment. Raethiel took advantage of her weakness, ran behind her, and planted the sword in her back all within a second. Kateri screamed as pain ripped through her. Raethiel pulled his blade free and reached for her. "Hands off, undead!" She growled and jumped away just in time. Raethiel charged her again, this time his sword angled for a stab. She attempted to jump away once more, but someone grabbed her. She twisted her head around to see who it was. Ledien was smiling down at her. "Join us sister." And just as he finished, Raethiel's blade stabbed into her stomach. She gasped and fell to the floor as she slipped from Ledien's grasp. Blood dripped from her stomach and she felt like she was going to puke. She held her hand to her stomach and curled up on the stone. Her vision began to fade. This was it, after this, she would no longer belong to this world. She heard the hollow chanting of before, and watched the mist find her, blurred by her fading vision. Then all was black.

Kateri opened her eyes. The world around her was oddly clear, making everything seem a little… faded and less spectacular. Not that a pile of filthy stone was anything spectacular, at least, not to the living. But to the dead, this was a paradise. And now, Kateri understood why it was that Raethiel and Ledien had so readily left everything else behind. She sat up and tested out her body. She jumped to her feet and stretched her arms. She was amazed by her own speed. She smirked and gave a hum of satisfaction. She finally looked up at the others around her. She smiled at Raethiel and Ledien who stood side by side, and then turned to Hairon, the man that once made her cry with fear. He stood with his arms crossed, his cruel smirk still pasted to his lips. "Welcome, child." He said to her. Kateri came forward, no longer fearing him, yet still respecting him. "It's an honor." She said, kneeling at his feet.

She stood and took her place next to her two undead brothers. "So," She began. "I suppose I must prove myself now?" Hairon shook his head. "Not you." He said. "Not right now, that is."

He started for the door, motioning them to follow. "The time for that will come, I have specific plans for it. But, you are expected elsewhere." He lead them down a hallway Kateri hadn't yet seen to a set of large wooden doors. There was a roar of muffled voices behind it. "For now." Hairon continued as they reached them. "You must begin your new lives as immortals."

"As Death Knights."


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, seven chapters now. What's everybody think so far? I've been so busy with this story. It's kicking my butt trying to think up different plans for this. I have to check some more back story lore again. I know most of it, but I need to touch up again. Anyways, I'm currently working on a couple of other stories. One is for my Main character on Wow. I've literally been planning this story for YEARS. Since I was a kid, I'm extremely happy I'm finally doing this. Another is a worgen story. Another is pre-war of the ancients. Another is pre-Invasion of Quel'Thalas, and the last will be one with my undead in it. I may also do a dranie story. Tell me what you think I should do for any other stories.**

**I'm estimating that she'll be meeting Arthas within the next three chapters. Hey, that's less than five. So be happy. Thank you all for your reviews. And get ready for the real adventure to start. I'm sorry thins is going slowly, but there are necessary things that have to happen early on. Thank you followers. Now, here's the seventh chapter.**

Ledien's sword smashed against the training dummy, the sand inside pouring out and clattering on the floor. He jumped back as the mechanical training dummy spun, its blunt blades coming within centimeters of his bare chest. He cursed and fell back on his hands. He ran forward and kicked the machine in the chest, frustrated. Then he turned, throwing his sword on the ground and hurried away from it when he heard the gears turning for another attack.

Someone gave an amused chuckle from the shadows and Ledien snapped his gaze towards them, his face softening when he saw who it was. "You really shouldn't give up that early on." Raethiel advised. "Though I don't blame you for getting angry, I was upset too. I just can't seem to move fast enough either." He came into the light more and turned to the side, showing Ledien the cut on the back of his shoulder.

"It looks painful." He said as he retrieved his Runeblade. "It is." Raethiel confirmed. "But not nearly as much as it would a mortal."

Ledien sheathed the blade and willed his body to relax, but it simply wouldn't. This was one of the many downfalls he'd discovered so far in his second life. He was now seeing that being immortal was not all that it seemed to be. He grumbled as he made his way to the door, Raethiel following on his heels.

"Can I ask you something?" Ledien asked.

"Well sure." Raethiel replied.

"What was it really like for you when you were reborn?"

Raethiel eyed him oddly, caught off guard by his question. He sighed. "Honestly, it was just strange for me. I felt so much rage and anger. But it was different, my agony was… warped. I just wanted bloodshed and pain, to cause others the horror I felt in myself. To try and escape from my own pain by making others go through it too. I wanted to kill and I liked it when I killed Kateri. I'd never felt that way before. I felt like, a monster. I still do." His expression was grim.

"I felt very similar." Ledien admitted. "I felt distant from myself, my real self. It was if someone had ripped out my emotions and replaced them with this strange, undying need for violence. I wanted the same as you, to kill and to harm. I was scaring the small remainder of myself into submission and it all became very numb." He paused. "But there's more. After I passed into the numbness, I was hit with an overwhelming wave of awe and power. I felt so powerful, so great. Yet even still, when he instructed me to kill you, I almost couldn't, ALMOST. I'm sorry I could." He turned to Raethiel and put a hand on the taller elf's shoulder. "I'm sorry Raethiel. I'm sorry I made you into THIS." He gestured all around them, at the gothic architecture and the dried blood on the black stone, at the dead and undead rats the scrambled across the floor, at all of the darkness around them.

"My friend," Raethiel said, his face breaking into a smirk. "Am I really THAT ugly?" The two of them laughed and walked on, leaving their private conversation behind them. But it was not quite as private as they'd thought. For someone else, ran the other way from the shadows, their red eyes aglow in the dim light.

Kateri sat in silence on the cot she'd been given to sleep on. Two days ago, she'd been raised from the dead as a Death Knight to serve the very thing she'd fought with her life to destroy. Two days ago, she'd been riding an unnatural high after being brought into this world that was caused by adrenalin, her own personal pain, and the urge to destroy. But as the hours had passed, she'd sunk lower and lower. As she'd trained with her Runeblades, she'd only become less and less motivated. And now, she was sitting in a grim silence as she finally realized what she'd lost and what she'd become. _You're a monster._ Her own conscience spat at her. Her own soul resented her.

She bit her lip and let out a slight growl of despair. She stood stiffly and grabbed her Runeblades. She stomped down the hall to the training room. She shoved open the door and unsheathe her blade. She charged right at the training dummy. _YOU!_ She screamed inside her mind. _You did this to me!_ The image of Arthas's face as he killed Sylvanas plagued her mind. She roared out in anger. She swung at the training dummy and impaled it, letting her blades slash the chest open even further as she pulled away and jumped back before it "fought back". _I am nothing now because of you._ She jumped up high into the air, landing on the dummy and brought one of the blades down into its "head". She jumped back off and threw herself at one of the bladed arms. She jammed one blade into the shoulder and pried it off with a screech of metal. She did the same to the other arm and walked back to look at it. "You're just like me." She said bitterly to the mutilated machine and beheaded it. A deep sadness took her and she sunk to the floor. She looked at her sickly bluish skin traced her vein with the tip of one of her blades. Blood poured out, but it did not run as it did before. It was thicker now, and so darkly colored it was nearly black. She began to weep. _I'm not even the same on the inside anymore…_

"My, my." Hairon said from the doorway. "That's quite the kill you've made." Kateri jumped and wiped away her tears. She stood to see her master and bowed. "Rise." he muttered. She did. "I must say, you're much better than the others. You've completely destroyed it when they could hardly even touch it." He laughed and clapped his hands. "The master will be please with you."

"So I hope." Kateri hissed through her teeth.

"Now, I have something to discuss with you." He said, ignoring her anger. He came to put an arm around her shoulders. She flinched uncomfortably and once again he ignored her. "The time has come for you to prove yourself." Kateri stiffened as he said that, knowing what it meant. "Who will it be?" She asked. Hairon was grinning as always. "You'll have to wait and see." He taunted. "Now come. You cannot be late, we have special guests."

As they walked through the halls, Kateri could only wonder who their "guests" could be. Could it be Arthas? Maybe more cultists who lead scourge armies. Other Death Knights even? Who?

Soon, she found herself in a familiar circular room with an all too familiar Noth standing over his cauldron. But next to him were two men, one an elf, one human, Death Knights. "Ah, Thassarian." Hairon said, leading Kateri to the two undead. "This is the recruit I had told you about."

"She'd better be as good as you say, Hairon." Thassarian said impatiently. He was looking over Kateri with a glare of suspicion and doubt. "Let's get this over with."

Hairon called to a pair of skeletal guards by the doorway of the room. They came forward, a line of prisoners behind them in shackles followed. To Kateri's horror, it was her former cell mates. She stared at them, trying hard to cover her fear and then realized they were staring right back at her, their expressions as horrified as her own. The guards took them to stand across from the cultists and Death Knights, all but one of them. Kateri fought the urge to scream as they placed Edaryan in the center of the room. He couldn't even stand from the wound on his leg, he just sat there shaking.

Someone shook her. Kateri turned, snapping from her daze. "What are you waiting for? This is your chance to prove who you are now Kateri." She walked numbly to the center of the room and stood over Edaryan. He stared up her with big eyes filled with tears. "Kateri." He whimpered. "Please don't do this." It reminded her of what she'd said to Ledien. She flinched inwardly. _Just act._ She told herself. _Just do it. Just kill him and get it all over with._ She raised the blade, blocking him from her conscience.

_He's just a mortal._ Someone else's voice boomed in her mind. She'd never heard such a frightening sound. It was as though ice was flowing through her and her mind was chilled by the very sound of it. She felt numb, not like before when she sat on her cot. Not a troubled numb, but a tranquil calmness. _You don't need them. You don't need that world. They would despise you for your greatness._ The voice continued. The world around her looked only as though it was a picture, just a painting or an illustration in a book. It was as though it wasn't real. Just a story and she was only the reader, not a character. She had no power over what happened there, it was just fate's decision because fate was the author.

_They are nothing._ Yes, it was so true. They were nothing. There WAS nothing, nothing but darkness and despair, nothing but hatred and pain and agony, nothing but her desires to destroy the world that had so much forsaken her. This world had given her only pain and hatred, this world had only tossed her into a life of horror, and it wouldn't even let her die! She hated this world and she hated all who inhabited it. She hated the living, the dead, and the undead all the same. She hated them all and she would serve no one. She would tear this world to pieces and show it that she was her own, not theirs. They did not rule her.

_Wait!_ The voice commanded, interrupting her anger. _Why go through so much trouble? Why not just embrace this gift that has been given to you? The darkness is a gift. The darkness is all there is…_ Once again she was numbed. Once again, she found herself lost in the voice. _And it can save you._ Save me?_ Yes, you belong with it. You belong to Me. I can help you become powerful; I can help you express your anger in useful ways, to show this world your strength. You belong to Me._ She belonged to darkness. The voice was darkness itself to her. _Now disconnect yourself from that wretched world forever._ Kateri raised her blade. She heard Edaryan's scream and saw him cower in fear, but it meant nothing to her.

She brought the blade down on him. Blood splattered across the room, and soaked Kateri's training clothes. Edaryan made a choking sound and stared up at her once more as if to ask why. She gave him a simple answer. "You are just a mortal." She beheaded him, just as she had the training dummy.

She wiped the blood away from the one of her Runeblades he'd used and walked away from the young man's corpse as though nothing had happened. "It's done." She said to the other undead. She briefly glanced back at her former cell mates. They all stared at her with such horror and hatred that she wanted to laugh. As if it mattered to her anymore, as if she cared. That life was a lie, darkness was the truth.

"You are good." Thassarian said. "Though he didn't put up much of a fight." Kateri shrugged. "It was his choice not to fight for his life to the end." She said. Thassarian smirked and turned his attention to Hairon. "I want her." He said. "Arthas will too. She's ruthless, a quick killer, obviously skilled, and smart. She's much more advanced than most of the lousy shit that has turned up from this, and she's only been here for a couple of days. I will be informing our lord of her, and I expect you to have her prepared." Prepared for what? Kateri wondered. "Yes, of course Thassarian. Though I must ask you one thing, what of the others? Her two companions, the other elves I informed you of, they're quite skilled as well. They, in fact, were the ones to being Kateri into our ranks. And she was a friend of theirs."

Thassarian turned to the elf and whispered something to him. The elf nodded and Thassarian turned back to Hairon. "We'll view them during their training. For now, we have other duties. We will return to you in the evening. This better not be a waste, though I have a little more confidence in you now, considering what you've shown us with her." He motioned to Kateri and gave her a quick nod. "Consider yourself fortunate, for you've not the slightest idea how lucky you are." And with that the pair departed and Hairon lead Kateri back to the rest quarters.

"I must speak to you later." He said. "In regards to Thassarian and Koltira." Kateri assumed Koltira was the elf. "What is all of this about? What am I supposed to be prepared for?" Hairon pursed his lips. "That is precisely what I intend to discuss with you later. But for now I must go." He began to hurry from the room but stopped. "One thing, I'd be pleased if you would abstain from informing Raethiel and Ledien of Thassarian and Koltira. I would like for it to be sudden, to truly test their ability." Kateri felt suspicious of his true intent, but nodded anyways. "I see." She said and lay down onto the cot. Hairon smiled. "You're a prodigy." He said and left her.

Kateri stared at the ceiling now instead of the floor as she'd done before. The numbness inside her made her still and silent, she felt no desire to move, not even to think. The voice, the darkness, it had given the gift not to feel. No longer did she have any connection to the world of before, nor did she feel sadness for the man she'd killed. He'd be raised anyways. That world had forsaken her, and she hated it. But this world had it truly given her anything better. She remembered how she'd felt before, this world had forsaken her too. She did not belong on this earth. She did not belong in any earth. She belonged with the dead, and she would never have that peace. _I hate you Arthas._ She whispered inside herself. _But I hate all of them too._ She hated everything. There was just hate, nothing more, just hate. Accept for them. Raethiel and Ledien, was she supposed to hate them too? They were just like her, they knew her pain. Or did they? Confliction bit at her like frost and spiders. She held her Runeblades to her chest.


	8. Chapter 8

**UPDATES: **

**I have just posted the first chapter to my newest story ****Belore: Remembrance****. It's about my main on Wow, I've been forming this story for years and I'm so excited to finally have the first chapter done. I hope you enjoy it. The next chapter to The Light of Darkness will be posted within the next week. Keep an eye out for it!**

**Bye:)**


	9. Chapter 9

**The action starts here. Enjoy. Belore should have another chapter out with the next few days.**

The darkness that surrounded her that night as Kateri rested herself could not be described. She found that in this darkness, there was more comfort than there was in what little light surrounded her. She'd moved her cot to the darkest corner of the large room she'd been bunked in so that she could remain in silence and observe the others. The darkness did not only envelope her like a cloak now, it seemed to being to soak into her very being. She welcomed it.

Men and women were bunked into the same room, almost all ignoring each other anyways. While the others rested, she sat and watched, uneasy yet numb all the same. She played with her hair, rubbing it between her fingers. It was just as soft as it had been in life and it still held beauty to it, which surprised her. She began to braid it, starting at the roots near her hairline and weaving them along her scalp tightly and then down until she had three large braids that she then braided into one. "There." She said to herself, absently.

She stopped then, the room had gone quiet and the few humans who were in the room looked her way. "Who's there?" A fragile woman demanded. Kateri recognized her as the girl who'd been taken from her cell when Edaryan had arrived. She didn't answer the woman and instead just and continued her silence. But the woman was not going to let her. "I said who's there." She said impatiently.

Kateri sighed and stood up, coming into the dim light, she flinched away from it a bit. "I am." She said, giving the girl a straight glare that could grip a soul by the throat. The woman faltered a bit. "Oh, it's you. You're that worthless elf from just before I was turned."

"I remember you too." Kateri said. "You're that bratty human who begged like the bitch you are." She turned and walked out of the room. "Bitch." She muttered as she turned the corner and walked right into Ledien.

She jumped back quickly, blades drawn, startled. "Oh, it's you." She sheathed her blades. "I haven't seen you two in a while."

Both Raethiel and Ledien nodded. "Hairon told us to collect you." Raethiel informed her.

"I suppose that would mean you've met them then?" They nodded again. "I guess we'd better go then."

Raethiel and Ledien had not at all been prepared for their little "visit" from Thassarian and Koltira. They'd been merely walking down the hall to the bunks to rest after training when they were both grabbed from behind and thrown into another room.

"What the hell?" Raethiel gasped as he sat up, wiping away blood from his reopened wound on his shoulder. Two figures, dressed in similar, but more extravagant, armor stood over the two of them.

"Raethiel Dawningsky and Ledien Fireborn, the time has come for you to show us just how much strength you really have. Stand and fight." The two did as they were told, startled, but curious.

Ledien's mouth curled up into a smirk as he drew his blade. "Fine then." He said. "Let's go!" He jumped at the figure on the left who happened to be an elf like him with white blond hair as well and like Ledien his skin had become ashy from death. Ledien attempted to strike him but found himself slicing air. "Wha…?" His eyes narrowed in irritated confusion.

"Missed me." The elf whispered to him from behind. Ledien whirled around only to be greeted by air. "I see you are not as fast as the girl." The elf said. His voice was above Ledien now. Ledien looked up to see the other elf dropping straight for him, his sword angled right at Ledien. Ledien met him and their blades locked. He summoned up his strength and threw the elf into the wall with a crash. "Ah… So strength is where your talents lie." The elf sheathed his blade.

Raethiel had been left to fight the human. "What's all of this about?" He asked as he pounced at the man, aiming for the man's exposed side where he could at least get a hit in. He planned to weaken the man over time until he fell of exhaustion. Only then would Raethiel bother with the finishing blow.

"Haven't we proved ourselves already?" The man didn't answer but instead flung himself at Raethiel who braced himself for a blow, blade stanced to block. But no hit ever came, the man had jabbed his sword into the stone and propelled himself over Raethiel. He was now slashing at the elf's open back. "Damn you." Raethiel hissed. This man was obviously just as experienced as he was.

Raethiel spun around on his heel and blocked. "My turn again." He jumped up in the air and went for another exposed spot between the shoulder and the neck. If he was fast enough, he could take the man's arm off. He could clearly see that his original plan was no longer an option. He made it, jamming his sword into the man's flesh. The human faltered and pulled away allowing Raethiel to only slice him a bit.

Raethiel landed and turned to look at the man. To his surprise, the human was smiling. "You're good." He swung at Raethiel who blocked him once again. "Good defense." He swung again. "Good offense." He swung yet again but at Raethiel's legs this time. "Good strategy."

He stopped and sheathed his blade. "I like you."

After the fighting, Hairon had appeared. "I will now answer your question, Raethiel." Was the first thing he said as he entered the room. "Loyalty and strength are two very different things."

After brief introductions, he ordered the two of them to find Kateri and bring her to the main doors that separated the rest of Naxxramas from their training areas. He also told them to pack what little belongings they still had.

Edaryan felt like he was going to be sick. Everything was foggy and when he opened his eyes it only became much worse. Pain flowed through him like a steady river. He groaned and tried to sit, only to find that it killed him to do so. He fell back onto the floor and closed his eyes again. What was going on? He remembered nothing. Someone was grabbing, instinctively, he flinched away from the grasp. But there was a soft voice echoing around him. "It is all ok. Do not fear, my dear. All is well." He found that the voice was right, the touch was soft and he allowed it to help him to sit.

He dared to open his eyes. All around him was dirty, obsidian stone and blood. "Where am I?" He asked, slightly concerned. The person supporting him spoke again. "This place is called Naxxramas." He could now tell that the voice was a woman's. He twisted around to see her. She had long black hair that hung down around her like a cloak and a very pretty face. But there was something very off about her that made him feel quiet uneasy.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Me?" The woman smiled. "My name is Dahlia, Dahlia of the Damned, and you are my new pet."

"New pet? What does that mean?"

"Well, my dear, the life of a Priestess of the Dark is very lonely. And so, I adopt those who have lost everything and make them my own. From now on I will take care of you and in return, you will give me companionship. It's a very fair balance, don't you agree?"

Edaryan felt himself becoming very tired, his body felt ridiculously heavy, even despite the fact that someone else was holding him up. Dahlia pushed his hair out of his face and peered down at him with foreign, yellow eyes. "Are you tired?" She asked. All that Edaryan could do was nod and even that was a strain for him. Dahlia picked him up and Edaryan vaguely marveled at her strength. She began to walk, though she was so graceful that it didn't seem so at all and she took him to a bed and he was laid down onto soft velvet. "Sleep now, dear. There is no rush. We will depart when you awake."

Depart to where, he wondered, but the question didn't last. Darkness overtook him and he began to slip away. But as he lay there, it was strange. It was as though he was drifting, not quite sleeping, but unconscious still. And as he drifted, he did not dream, nor did he hear or see. All that existed for him was darkness.

"You have a mission." Hairon said. "Arthas has requested the presence of the most advanced and promising Death Knights that Naxxramas has to offer and you three are no doubt some of our best. He has completed his business here in the Eastern Kingdoms and is now preparing to go to the very heart of our empire, Northrend. However, he still has one task left in his Capital. You all are to be sent off with him, you will not be alone. There are others who have already been tested and spoken to, and some who are on the list. Pack what little belongings you still have and use these." He handed them each palm sized black stones. "They are one use portals, use these portals to exist Naxxramas, you will be teleported to Lordaeron where you will all prepare. You will leave there in three days time. The others will meet you there. Good luck to you, chosen knights, we will meet again."

Kateri turned to the two men beside her. "Well, then I suppose I should go then. I have nothing to pack." She activated the stone, but hesitated at the portal's opening. "Wait, are you two coming?" Ledien looked to Raethiel who shrugged and they both nodded. "I suppose so." With that, they were gone.

Shane watched the three elves leave through their portals and sighed, relieved they had finally gone. While they were not the only elves there, the girl, Kateri, had caused Shane continual discomfort. His appreciation for Elvin kind had given quite the problem after he learned that Quel'Thalas had fallen. He hoped that with Kateri gone, he'd be able to move on with his work.

"Ah, Shane I was just about to summon you." Hairon said and placed a hand on the young cultist's shoulder. He handed him a small sack filled with the same black stones that had been given to the elves and a list of names. "I need you to hand out stones to the following names. But don't start until tomorrow morning for I have yet to speak with them. Thank you, you're dismissed."

Shane stared at the crystals in his hands and nodded. "Good night, my lord." He said blankly and Hairon disappeared. Right there in his hands was the key to allowing someone to possibly escape this place… Or even he himself could escape. Perhaps it was not too late for him after all. No! He shoved the thoughts away, he'd chosen this path, and besides, he'd dedicated so much to it already. He couldn't leave now. He gave an inward groan. He'd been quite wrong about his conflictions leaving with the elves.

Raethiel, Kateri, and Ledien stepped out of the portal and into a world of death. The stench of bodies and rotting flesh drenched the air around them, but it was nothing new to the trio of Death Knights and therefore did not bother them. The sky above them was quite different that in the Plaguelands, it was a sickly, pale green that was a perfect match to the stench and the blood drenched, gray stone courtyard around them. All that should not have been still moving was. Dead creatures from rats to dogs to humans and scourge walked the courtyard. In the center of the courtyard, a group of undead had gathered. Kateri recognized the two Death Knights from her trial of worth standing and speaking to the other undead around them. There were a few other Death Knights as well, but none that Kateri distinctly recognized.

"Come down here you three." Thassarian called to them and they obeyed.

"Hmm, so it appears that you three are indeed close after all." He said to them as they approached. "That's good! As brothers and sisters in death, we should be doing just as you three are. Koltira and I are rather close as well and I hope that this will serve as an example to our comrades." He said it to the crowd more than just to them.

"Now, welcome to Lordaeron. Some of you are very familiar with place, others, not so much. The very land you stand upon is the birth place of our great leader. However, there's someone here more equipped to speak of this place and our mission here than I." He stepped to the side. The rhythmic clanking of metal against stone signaled that someone was walking towards them, an ominous contrast to the hollow silence that now surrounded them.

A man now stood there besides the two other Death Knights, dressed full in fur lined, silver armor. His silvery hair fit him well, matching his pale skin and the chilling blue, misty eyes of a Death Knight. "It's good to see you, Arthas." Thassarian said.

Arthas smiled at his friend. "It's good to see you too, Thassarian." Kateri froze. She knew that voice, it had echoed in her mind when she'd killed Edaryan, it had welcomed her into the darkness that saved her. She stared up at the man before her. So this was the bearer of the voice, this was the man who'd taken her to darkness, this was the monster that had destroyed her people and welcomed her into undeath, this was the Prince she would serve under now, this was Arthas. She smirked bitterly.

He was everything she expected him to be.


End file.
